Hapkido's Connection To Daito Ryu

Author: Bret Gordon

For decades, the stories of Choi Yong Sul's training with Takeda Sokaku in Daito Ryu have been the subject of countless disputes. I've heard numerous versions of this so-called history, with everything ranging from Choi being the adopted son of Takeda to being just a simple houseboy. Some renditions emphasize they didn't know each other at all. What is indisputable is that when Choi returned to Korea following the end of the Japanese occupation, he was a formidable martial artist whose reputation grew quickly. 

But where did his martial prowess come from? A technical analysis of Choi's teaching certainly shows similarities to Daito Ryu technique, but Takeda Sokaku was notorious for keeping meticulous records of every student he taught. Who can blame him when over the course of his career, he taught an estimated 30,000 students, many of whom were heads of other martial arts? He felt his art of Daito Ryu was proprietary and wanted a way to ensure those who trained with him wouldn't take what they learned back to their schools and pass them off as information that had been there already. It has been generally accepted that Choi Yong Sul did not appear anywhere in Takeda's records, nor did his alleged Japanese name "Yoshida Asao." It has been suggested that he was intentionally omitted because he was Korean, but other Koreans (such as Jang In Mok) appear in official Daito Ryu records so that's not a valid excuse. How then, can we reconcile that with his claims of studying with Takeda?For decades, the stories of Choi Yong Sul's training with Takeda Sokaku in Daito Ryu have been the subject of countless disputes. I've heard numerous versions of this so-called history, with everything ranging from Choi being the adopted son of Takeda to being just a simple houseboy. Some renditions emphasize they didn't know each other at all. What is indisputable is that when Choi returned to Korea following the end of the Japanese occupation, he was a formidable martial artist whose reputation grew quickly. 

But where did his martial prowess come from? A technical analysis of Choi's teaching certainly shows similarities to Daito Ryu technique, but Takeda Sokaku was notorious for keeping meticulous records of every student he taught. Who can blame him when over the course of his career, he taught an estimated 30,000 students, many of whom were heads of other martial arts? He felt his art of Daito Ryu was proprietary and wanted a way to ensure those who trained with him wouldn't take what they learned back to their schools and pass them off as information that had been there already. It has been generally accepted that Choi Yong Sul did not appear anywhere in Takeda's records, nor did his alleged Japanese name "Yoshida Asao." It has been suggested that he was intentionally omitted because he was Korean, but other Koreans (such as Jang In Mok) appear in official Daito Ryu records so that's not a valid excuse. How then, can we reconcile that with his claims of studying with Takeda?

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